Thinking of getting a slick stick, how come no one else does this?

[SmokinGun]

I've been looking at the slick stick web site and they pretty much offer everything I want in a controller.  You can change the button color and spinner placement for free.  It has 7 buttons per player, a 4 way, 2 additional top fires, and a trackball.  Is this a good deal?  The controller on the Scott's unicade site cost him $700.00 to build with just about the same components.  

http://home.austin.rr.com/shumate/unicade/controls.htm

I can get the Slikstik CO2 with spinner and trackball light upgrade for $624.95.  Without the light upgrade it's 589.95.  It comes with the Happs competition joysticks, not the Ultimates.  

http://www.slikstik.com/co2features.htm

Do a lot of people buy these instead of building their own?  This seems like a pretty good alternative to spending more money and having to build it yourself.  I'm thinking I can buy this for now and build my cabinet around it as I go.  The only disadvantage I could see is that there is no lexan cover and it is made out of black formica.  However, It shouldn't be too hard to add lexan, and black formica isn't a bad material to build a cabinet out of, is it? Are there any other disadvantages I am overlooking?  What do you guys think?

[eightbit]

  Wow I've seen complete cabs go for a lot less than that. It looks like a pretty killer stick but thats a lot of coin. Have you looked at the x-arcade joystick. It doesn't have as much but its only $150. Then in a year when you do decide to build you can build around it or start over and not be out as much money. There are other pre-built alternatives that you should also look investigate.

I don't see how you can put that much money into building a control panel. As an example I know happs gets like $130 for a trackball but you can get the same trackballs new on ebay for $20-40 all the time. So you can save a lot if your willing to spend a little time looking.

Why do you want to cover it with plexi? Usually the reason for plexi is to protect the art work. Are you planning to add artwork? Personally I don't like plexi and would prefer a little texture from formica or something else. I've done a couple of control panels with vinyl and like the texture and slight give that it provides. A problem with adding plexi to an existing panel is you need to make sure things like your buttons are long enough to go the extra thickness. It will make your joysticks shorter and keeping the trackball flush will be interesting.

I don't know how many people buy them but I would say probably not a lot of people from here, since this is the BYOAC (build your own arcade controls) site. People around here tend to build there own even if it ends up costing them more than a commercial product. We like to customize and build to our own specifications.

Good luck and post updates on your progress. If you buy a slick stick come on back and let us know why it cost so much. It might be worth it, I don't know I've never used one. I  think folks around here would love hearing a review of a $600 controller. It might inspire Snake to try and sell his controller for $300 again.

[Silverwind]

Well.. it isn't made out of formica.. but covered with it..
Formica is sort of like a veneer.. a lot of kitchen counters  utilize it..  I don't see why you couldn't add lexan.. unless it might interfere with the controls..

it does state that it is 3/4" MDF base, and 3/4" plywood top panel..

As for price.. depending on what you get i'm sure you can make it more or less than the cost of the slikstik..

The link you gave for scott used a hagstrom instead of an i-pac which is what the slikstik uses..  there is an extra $60 right there... you could probably save in a few other areas as well..  but you do have to factor in the screws/wood/etc

But I think when it comes down to it... money isn't the main factor...  it's time and effort..  I enjoy building things... so I really don't mind.. but if you don't have the tools and don't really want to fool with building one yourself.. you might want to look at a premade stick like this one...

I'm no expert so take my advice with a grain of salt  Maybe a seasoned professional can add a little more spice to the mixture..

[SNAAAKE]

It might inspire Snake to try and sell his controller for $300 again.

I sold the last one for $250(M.Bison one) ebay so i dont see why my current wont go over $300..however i dont have any interest on selling this(too in love with this panel,looks and works perfect 100% exactly how i always wanted,worked REALLY hard on this one to be exact).

as for slik stick,whatever you are getting from slikstick.BAD DEAL !.
if you wanna built something similer to scotts unicade panel then you could do for under $300..
do the math.
I still dont know why scott's cost SOOOO much.
maybe because he bought lots of different interface,and he built his long long time ago and back then some parts were probley expensive(like a trackball).
My tip( i dont know it all as some folks seem to think),

get an I-PAC,PS2 mame ready trackball,OSCAR spinner,and whatever joysticks and buttons you want from happ.Some artwork would also add to the looks.

and of course if you wanna save money you gotta do the work yourself(its not as easy as lot of people make it sound).

this is just an estimate but it could be EVEN cheaper then $300.
and formica is very good but(yes i have a problem there) you know you want your panel to be pimp so you wanna add some artwork then use plexi.
just my thoughts

[eightbit]

Heres some other pre-made options-
http://www.hanaho.com/products/HotRodJoystick/index.html
http://www.x-arcade.com
http://home.iprimus.com.au/ozstick/

[hyiu]

well... the people in this community likes to build his own.... I think that's why this is called BYOAC.... hee hee...  

and you're right... if you don't have the right tool to begin with... and you're not into wood work, simple electronics... etc.  it might actually cost more to build (since you need to buy tools... etc)..

if you ask the gang here, most likely, they would say... its not that hard to build... (and we're telling you the truth...)

but if you would like to buy and can afford, then I would say, by all means... go ahead and buy !!!....

but I would not suggest you buy a completed product and then "re-hack".... (add lexan.... switches stuffs... etc.)
cos it defeats the purposes....

just my $0.02 cents....
good luck to you....